


Let the fire burn out (I won't)

by berry_sooffle



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chanyeol is amazing, Fantasy, Fluff, I don't know what to tag I'm sorry, I put Junmyeon in pain because I love him, M/M, MAMA Powers, Romance, Some angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 07:18:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13782531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berry_sooffle/pseuds/berry_sooffle
Summary: The flowers are draining Junmyeon's life so Chanyeol burns his greenhouse down to save him, even if it means breaking Junmyeon's heart along with it. (roughly based on Junmyeon's Electric Kiss teaser)





	Let the fire burn out (I won't)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [convexxed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/convexxed/gifts).



> This work is dedicated to a cat in disguise. Thank you for being by my side.
> 
> Based on a tweet by roguemyeon @Twitter (https://twitter.com/roguemyeon/status/932660595756761090) and also this amazing piece of art by her as well (https://twitter.com/roguemyeon/status/963013912206675968)
> 
> {not 100% beta-ed ;; forgive me}

Let the fire burn out (I won’t)

[the flowers are draining junmyeon's life so chanyeol burns his greenhouse down to save him, even if it means breaking junmyeon's heart along with it]

_Fire._

Of course there would be fire; it’s Chanyeol’s doing, after all. He sets his blank canvas on fire up on the loft of his studio by accident quite a handful of times. Yet _this_ , this is nowhere near unintentionally.

Flowers smell nice. As they’re burning, it’s just ashes flying up in the air. The once sweet scent becomes sickening to the point of clogging up your trachea. Chanyeol feels his mouth go dry as the flames swallowing the greenhouse whole, wolfing down what once was the most beautiful, the most treacherous to his most beautiful, most treacherous.

‘I want to save you, Junmyeon ah,’ Chanyeol whispers to himself, swallowing all the guilt that seems to be squeezing his heart at the moment. ‘I did this because I want to save you.’

The ashes seem to weigh down Chanyeol’s emotions as they fly up in the air. Chanyeol doesn’t think it’s Junmyeon’s greenhouse he’s burning.

 

\---       

                                               

Junmyeon has been _withering_ for quite some time.

It started with faintly dark circles under his usual bright eyes, which Junmyeon just casually brushed off with his smile, blaming on nights staying up playing Battleground with Baekhyun. Then the healthy pinkish glow on his apple cheeks slowly faded as his smiles stopped reaching his eyes. Junmyeon would look normal to anyone else, but not to Chanyeol.

His aura used to be so cheery, nothing but bright, lovely, pleasing colors of hope, of happiness; now nothing but dull grey, and so much _less alive._

The answer dawned on him on a Saturday afternoon, along a call from Baekhyun.

“What’s the occasion?” Chanyeol groggily picked up the phone. He had fallen asleep somewhere between charcoal sketches and random strokes of colors on blank canvas.

“Nothing. I just wanna check on my long-time-no-see best friend who is now across the country and hasn’t bothered call _or_ text to check on me for 4 weeks, 3 days _and_ 14 hours so I has to do it myself for the sake of our friendship. Nothing, really.” Baekhyun was chewing on something when he guilt-tripped Chanyeol so casually like that, probably marshmallow. Chanyeol swore his hands started to shake if he couldn’t have any in 24 hours.

“Baek, you know I’m having an exhibition next Sunday. And I texted you the other night but you left me on _seen._ ” He sneered back.

“So you decided to play the petty game now, huh? Disappointed, but not surprised, Park Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol could actually see Baekhyun dramatically put his hand on his chest in mock hurt right in front of his eyes. He missed him. He missed them.

After The Lunar Eclipse, The War finally came to an end. They, The Original Nine, were finally freed from The Red Force. They agreed upon parting ways but still keeping in touch in case something unusual happened; there had been nothing so far.

Some moved to the other side of the globe, something about starting a whole new life, like Jongdae, Minseok, Sehun, Jongin and Yixing, while the rest scattered all over South Korea. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo moved to Jeju - the island was the perfect match for Baekhyun being a photographer and Kyungsoo with his geology work.

In the middle of Baekhyun’s rant about his and Kyungsoo’s puppies’ constant mess, Chanyeol suddenly remembered about it.

“Baekhyun,…”

“Mongryong kept— ” The other line stopped talking, “Yeah?”

“Battleground… um…” Chanyeol didn’t know how to state the matter.

Baekhyun breathed out a small laugh, “Damn, I miss that. We should really play together some time, you, me, Jongin, Kyungsoo and Junmyeon, too! It’s been so long since I last smashed your pathetic asses.”

“Wh—You mean you haven’t been playing with Junmyeon?” Chanyeol stuttered. Could it be that Junmyeon had been lying the whole time?

“No man, Kyungsoo has been... keeping me _busy_ at night… y’know…” Baekhyun trailed off, he’s definitely smirking.

Junmyeon had lied.

Baekhyun’s continued rant faded into white noise as Chanyeol’s mind was clouded with unanswered questions.

“Hey man, you still there?”

“Y—Yeah? Uhhh… sorry, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol jolted, sheepishly, “Just dozed off a little bit… I—Gotta go, have to finish this piece for the night. See you later?”

He heard Baekhyun yelling something a lot like “Huchu! Leave Mongryong alone! Kyungsooooooo!” before getting back with a “Yeah. No probs dude. See ya!”

Chanyeol texted a small “Sleepover at your place this weekend, hyung?” to Junmyeon, then proceeded back to his work. He really needed to get this piece done.

Strokes of bright acrylic paint added to the piece. It was fire.

 

\---

 

Junmyeon didn’t reply to any of his messages. So on Sunday morning, Chanyeol woke up earlier than usual and drove for one hour and a half to Junmyeon’s place.

Junmyeon would often joke about quitting his current job as a florist and moving back to the city center, sitting down on nine-to-five office work. Chanyeol knew he would never.

Chanyeol knew how much he loved his greenhouse, his flower shop, his flower babies. How his doe eyes would sparkle as he spoke non-stop about how much time he spent taking care of them, and how his apple cheeks would look like they could burst with happiness as he told Chanyeol some of the batches were about to bloom. Junmyeon was happy. Chanyeol knew that.

Greenery passed by the windows as Chanyeol continued down the road. The chilly wind carried fresh air, ruffling Chanyeol’s heavily bleached cotton candy hair, no bustling traffic noises, just Hyukoh singing softly on the radio. It was quiet and peaceful in this suburb area. Something Junmyeon had always needed.

“Please be okay.” Chanyeol muttered to himself as he stepped on the accelerator.

 

Everything looked relatively the same. Most of the flowers were in bloom, bright, cheerful shades among soft, dedicate colors brought the greenhouse even so much more _alive_.

Yet the most treacherous, most beautiful flower was withering.

 

“Hyung…”

Junmyeon startled at the deep voice. It couldn’t be…

“Chanyeol?”

 

The bunch of them often laughed how Junmyeon always looked as though he was glowing with energy all the time, which must have been because the man controlled the element of life – water. Junmyeon would just laugh sheepishly, poking his tongue out, easily making Chanyeol’s heart skip a beat. Maybe more beats than he thought. He stopped counting a long time ago.

 

The Junmyeon before his eyes was nothing but. He was _grey_ , as though he was dying a slow, silent death, each day passing by. The glow was dull.

“What brings you here, Chanyeol-ah?” Junmyeon smiled at him, the pinkish on his apple cheeks looked gloomy.

Chanyeol suddenly grabbed Junmyeon’s wrist; it was so much thinner, more brittle than before, so much more that it could’ve broken if Chanyeol had tightened his grip just a tiny bit more. His dainty hands had become more veiny, the skin was, as though, transparent, giving the impression of hands made of glass.

It was a painful sight. Junmyeon jerked his hand back immediately, as if the touch burned. It never did. The Junmyeon before would link their fingers together then swinging their arms back and forth.

“Have you had lunch yet? Let’s go grab something, my treat.”

Junmyeon nodded silently.

 

They went to a small restaurant nearby, the one they always went to whenever Chanyeol decided to stop by Junmyeon’s.

Chanyeol’s eyebrows furrowed at the sight of the dark haired keep adding salt to his miso soup.

“Is the soup really that bland? I remember their food always tastes just right though?” He scooped some up.

“No it’s—”

As the soup touched Chanyeol’s tongue, he immediately scoffed. It tasted even worse than sea water.

Junmyeon looked down on his lap, suddenly became interested in playing with his fingers, his bunny teeth gnawing the bottom lip. He looked like a kid who was about to get scolded for his wrongdoings.

Half of his food was still untouched. Chanyeol opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, no words came out, nothing but a sigh.

Lunch with Junmyeon had never been so silent and heavy like that. Junmyeon had always hated silent meals.

 

“I just… suddenly lost my appetite.” Junmyeon’s voice was so tiny that Chanyeol almost missed it amidst his long trains of tangled thoughts.

“Try to eat as much as you can.” Chanyeol grimaced at how much it sounded like an order.

Junmyeon nodded for the second time that day, not a single word spoken.

If Junmyeon noticed Chanyeol talking for quite a while on his phone outside before getting back to his pasta, he didn’t comment on it. He just silently poked on his vegetables.

Half of his food remained untouched.

The ride back to Junmyeon's house was silent, missing Chanyeol's off-key singing and Junmyeon's whining to him to ‘just shut up already’. Even though the windows were down with the wind mindlessly ruffling the hair, the air was suffocating.

 

\---

 

Junmyeon raised an eyebrow at the sight of Chanyeol taking out his wooden frames and blank canvas.

“What are you doing?” The question spurted out before Junmyeon could register.

“Isn't it obvious? I'm drawing. Sketching. Fancy artist stuffs.” He ruffled his cotton candy hair, nonchalantly. Added a little mischievous grin for more persuasion.

“But don't you have home to go back to?” He slightly wrinkled his nose at that, it seemed rude.

“Are you kicking me out, Junmyeonie-hyung?” Cueing his infamous puppy eyes, Chanyeol batted his eyelashes.

“N – No… It’s…  Are you staying the night, Chanyeol?”

“Maybe for a couple days? I miss you a lot, hyung.” _And I'm worried about you._

Junmyeon just smiled. Oh how much Chanyeol missed that smile.

 

Chanyeol's rough sketches of blooming flowers and tiny succulents turned into random doodles – whose subjects were all the same – a bunny boy, wearing a brown apron, watering tiny plants. They looked oddly like the person standing two feet in front of him, if you asked me.

“Is that me?” The sentence sounded so soft, it sounded like a mere whisper.

“Hey! No peeking!” Clearly startled, Chanyeol half shouted at the elder, his cheeks blushing a lovely red while big, clumsy hands trying to cover up his doodles.

“Gotcha.” Chanyeol wanted to believe that Junmyeon's smile carried not only fondness, but also a hint of adoration as well.

“You have a smudge… – Here, let me…” His delicate hand touched Chanyeol's left cheek, the thumb swiped the splotch off gently.

Even though Junmyeon's body heat was always a bit lower than normal, Chanyeol felt as though the touch set him on fire. The finger lingered a bit too long. Chanyeol wished the moment had lasted a bit longer.

He indeed lost count on how many times Junmyeon made his heart flutter. _Too many._

The sight of Junmyeon watering his precious flowers had always been beautiful as it ever was. Yet looking at the sight in front of him, Chanyeol couldn’t shrug off the thought that it was the flowers that were devouring Junmyeon inside out, slowly. The mere thought sent shivers all over him.

 _Just what are you going through?_ _Can’t you tell me, hyung?_

 

Suddenly, Junmyeon lost his balance and stumbled. The tin watering can in his hand fell to the ground, its clashing sound woke Chanyeol up from his daze.

“I’m okay… it must’ve been the sun…” Junmyeon whispered as Chanyeol gathered him onto his arms, hand coming up his forehead to check the temperature.

“Bullshit. We’re indoors.” Junmyeon turned away at the accusation. He looked abashed like a kid caught red-handed.

“C’mon hyung. No more working. Let’s get you back home.”

 

As Chanyeol carried him bridal style back to his house, Junmyeon couldn’t help but cling onto his oversized hoodie and buried his face into the soothing woody scent from his dearest friend, it was as comfy as ever. He could use the warmth, as well.

Junmyeon had always been on the smaller size, and curling up into Chanyeol’s embrace made him look even tinier. Something about him just made Chanyeol immediately want to coddle him, putting him into your jacket pocket, keeping warm and safe, away from the dangerous world outside (and he did, he always did.)

But looking down on Junmyeon, long eyelashes shadowing his apple cheeks, dry lips tightening into a straight line, he was so frail, so sad, yet still so breathtaking.

Feeling his tiny hyung tightening his grip onto him, Chanyeol felt as though he was tightening his grip around his madly beating heart too.

Chanyeol suddenly feared of Junmyeon shattering into pieces, withering, in his protective arms right at that moment.

_I’ll keep you safe, hyung._

 

 

Junmyeon was shivering when they made it to his bedroom, and he was sweating as well.

“Hyung, let go, I’m just going to the kitchen to make you some soup,” Chanyeol reluctantly said as he gently pried Junmyeon’s fingers off his hoodie.

“Chanyeol ah, I’m cold…” He sounded so weak it broke Chanyeol’s heart for the countless time that day.

“I’ll put the heater on just in case. It won’t take long, I promise.”

He touched Junmyeon’s left cheek, tenderly. The later immediately leaned into the touch, seeking warmth.

As his eyelashes fluttered shut and the petite fell asleep, rather tiredly, Chanyeol couldn’t help but leave a kiss on his dark hair, like a protecting seal.

 

 

Chanyeol let the egg porridge simmer a little bit more before dropping some chopped spring onion in, along with a pinch of pepper, “to keep the cold away,” his mother always told him. Chanyeol chuckled at the flashing thought of Junmyeon’s childlike eating habit, he would definitely whine if Chanyeol put too much spring onion in his porridge.

However, the thought of Junmyeon’s condition brought his smile down to a frown. He sighed.

 

Junmyeon was curling to himself, hogging all the blankets over his tiny form. Chanyeol almost cooed at the sight if it hadn’t been for the constant tremble underneath the thick cover.

With his eyebrows furrowed, Junmyeon was whispering incoherent words under his shaky breaths, as though he was pleading.

_Nightmares._

Chanyeol carefully put his hands on the other’s shoulder, and gently shook him awake.

“Junmyeonie – ah, Junmyeonie… It’s time to wake up…”

“Please stop… Let me go…” Junmyeon pleaded, sounding so in pain.

“Junmyeon – ah, it’s me. Wake up.” He shook him a little harsher that time.

Junmyeon jolted awake with a gasp, chest heaving up and down trying to gather lungful of air in rough pants. He was drenched in sweats, visibly shaking from the scary experience. There were tears in his eyes.

Chanyeol quickly gathered him for a hug, patting his back and rubbing circles on his thin frames to sooth him. He mumbled in hush whispers, “It’s alright. It’s just a bad dream. I’m here.”

Junmyeon let out quiet whimpers as he nuzzled into Chanyeol’s warm chest. He was still shaking.

Chanyeol tenderly stroke his hair in-betweens whispers, “You are alright. It’s okay now, you’re safe now. I’m here.”

They sat like that for a while. Until Junmyeon’s stomach broke the silence with its rumbling.

 

“I made egg porridge.” He laid a small peck on the dark hair.

“Is there spring onion?” His voice was so tiny Chanyeol wanted to coo, but now was not the time.

“Yes, but I chopped it so tiny you won’t feel anything.” Chanyeol slowly wiped the strayed tears away then proceeded to fix Junmyeon’s hair, making sure the bangs didn’t get into his swollen eyes.

“I’ll carry you to the kitchen?”

Junmyeon made grabby hands at him.

Chanyeol cooed for real this time.

 

“I’m completely capable of feeding myself.” Junmyeon scowled, reaching out to snatch the spoon back from Chanyeol. Needless to say, he failed miserably.

“Say ‘ah’ Junmyeonie ~” He was making spaceship motion with the spoon, and Junmyeon was trying so hard not to blush for being pampered like this.

“Chanyeol…”

“Say ‘ah’ ~”

“… ah.” Albeit reluctantly, Junmyeon relented to the taller’s (ridiculous) antic, his small mouth open waitingly.

He ended up finishing two-third of the porridge, claiming that his stomach was about to blow up by then.

Chanyeol brought him some pills with a glass of water. Junmyeon blinked at him.

“It was just a fever.”

“Drink it.” Chanyeol used The Stern™ Voice with him, even though he pouted back, the other just raised his eyebrows.

Junmyeon wrinkled at the bitter taste. Medicines were never his cup of tea.

Chanyeol ended up making him some warm milk with honey, with the latter grinning cheekily behind.

 

 

Junmyeon was lying idly on the sofa, switching channel to channel without actually watching anything. He was on his stomach, a habit of his that Chanyeol wholeheartedly disagreed with and would immediately chew his head off if he saw him in this situation. But Chanyeol was in the kitchen, settling the paperwork for his art exhibition, so Junmyeon was partly safe, for now at least.

Junmyeon’s mind drifted to thinking about Chanyeol, how he suddenly appeared in the front yard this morning, and how he managed to make Junmyeon feel so much better in just one (01) morning than he’d been trying to make himself be in the last two months.

His stomach felt funny, and he was sure it was not because of the porridge.

Junmyeon stuffed his face into a grey cushion, muffling his frustrated groans.

 

 

Chanyeol came back to the living room to find Junmyeon sleeping soundly on the sofa, one leg dangling off the cushion, toes barely touching the carpet. He was lying on his stomach. Again. This kiddo, seriously.

Junmyeon looked even more like a fluffy bunny, sleeping so peacefully on the cream sofa like that. Well, Junmyeon was, to Chanyeol, a True Bunny. Always had, always would.

He quietly sat down next to the sleeping baby, hand slowly reaching for the dark brown locks, stroking gently. Chanyeol could just sit like that forever. Watching Junmyeon sleeping so peacefully like that.

The Bunny slowly stirred awake, face snuggling into the plush grey cushion.

“I know you’re awake. C’mon, go take a shower and then off to bed.”

“mmmm…”

“C’mon bunny.” The pet name rolled of his tongue so casually, so naturally that Chanyeol almost didn’t realize. Almost. Chanyeol bited his tongue. _You ididot._

“I’ll go turn the air-con on. Hurry up.” He hastily cleared his throat, ruffling the other’s hair a little bit too roughly then quickly got up and left to the bedroom. He almost tripped on his feet.

 

Junmyeon’s fever had cooled down quite a lot after taking a long, quality shower. At this rate, he could actually get back to normal with just a good night sleep. Chanyeol sighed in relief.

His dark brown hair was magically fluffy in a goddam awfully mesmerizing way as the petite male hastily dried it with his favorite Star Wars towel. Chanyeol wished he could reach out and touch those strands, and if he were lucky, maybe he could dry his hair for him as well. But maybe some other day.

 

Junmyeon was having two thick blankets on him (in case you’re wondering, yes they are from the Star Wars collection) when Chanyeol stared down at the petite male. Soft brown eyes blinked at the giant, mildly confused.

“Is there anything you need?”

“Scoot over.” Chanyeol raised his eyebrows, his eyes tunred seriously huge when he did that, quite creepy as well.

Junmyeon wrinkled his nose at the demand. _Bossy much._ Still, he scooted over. The bed felt so much warmer and cozier having two people on, one being a significant warm giant.

The taller was having his favorite transparent glasses on, eyebrows slightly furrowed at his phone while Junmyeon inched a tiny bit closer to him.

“Chanyeol – ah…” Chanyeol could just feel that Junmyeon was peeking his eyes at him with the blankets covering most of his face.

“Yes hyung?”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Have you tried closing your eyes?” He turned to the elder with a cheeky grin on his face, the one with all his teeth showing.

“Chanyeol!” Ah, Fluffy Bunny was mad now.

 

Chanyeol put away his phone and glasses on the nightstand, then properly lay down and turned to Junmyeon, full attention on the other. He began in his story-telling voice.

“So one time I was at the convenient store and this guy straight up bought all the pineapples there. I thought he got some mad money but turned out he just got coupons. Said he liked them, the coupons. I don’t know why he chose pineapples though.”

It was a lame story, in all seriousness. Yet Junmyeon straight up giggled from under layers of soft blankets, voice soft and sleepy, “He sounded like those in classic math problems.”

“Indeed he did. Speaking of pineapples, do you know why Spongebob Squarepants lives in a pineapple under the sea?” Chanyeol’s voice turned into hush whispers, as though he was spilling secrets of the galaxy, and not of a witty 19-year-old cartoon series.

“I’ve never thought of that though… Why then?” Junmyeon turned over to face Chanyeol completely now, too absorbed in the mystery from Bikini Bottom.

“Because when Spongebob was looking for a place to live, then BAM! A pineapple fell from a boat directly overhead of him and his real estate agent. So there.” Chanyeol finished smugly. Knowledge was wisdom, always.

“Wow.” Junmyeon breathed out, dumbfounded. His eyes turned so round it almost made Chanyeol topple over and outright coo at him.

Junmyeon getting amazed at trivia things should seriously be considered  as one of the Bestest of Best Things in the World.

“I know right.” He was admiring how Junmyeon’s eyes could get so round and sparkly like that.

“You’ve spent too much time on reddit, Chanyeol.” The smaller breathed out a small laugh while snuggling closer to the other.

“Knowledge is wisdom.” Chanyeol tried his best to keep calm, hoping that his thundering heart wouldn’t be heard from this proximity. It was getting too warm for his liking.

 

 

Junmyeon’s soft breathing came minutes later, his small hands clutching tightly at Chanyeol’s side. Tentatively, the taller wrapped him into his lanky arms, slowly pulling him closer in his embrace.

He gently put his chin on the other’s round head, humming a lullaby softly. His large palms tenderly rubbing on the smaller’s skinny back.

_I’ll protect you._

Chanyeol promised himself that he would let Junmyeon keep his secrets just this one more night then. Just this one more night.

“Good night tiny bunny.” Chanyeol secretly laid a soft peck on the dark brown hair. The faint jasmine shampoo scent slowly lulled him to sleep.

As Chanyeol sluggishly drifted to dreamland, his gaze stopped at the single blooming white chrysanthemum placed neatly in a grey vase on the nightstand. The sleep dust knocked him off, before he remembered what chrysanthemums represented. The dainty white petals glowed mutedly in the faint moonlight.

Chanyeol dreamed of dainty flowers, tiny succulents and a certain bunny boy.

 

\---

 

 

Junmyeon was running. The fear of getting caught swept him on his chafed feet, constantly pushing him forward. _Faster_ , it whispered.

Everything was ink black. He could not make out what was in front, nor what was behind him. He just knew he had to run. He just knew he had to stay alive.

_Help me._

Cold sweat made his feet turn slippery. His numb toes tried to grasp at the ground to no avail. Then Junmyeon fell. The darkness swallowed him whole. Junmyeon closed his eyes shut.

_This is the end._

He was waiting for something under to tear his body apart after the seemingly endless fall, yet there was none.

_Water._

He landed on a vast body of water. He was floating. His white shirt and black pants soon got drenched, the cold, dark liquid soaked through his clothed layers, grazing his skin. He shivered.

He faintly sensed a prickling pain, it was as though the cold was penetrating through his skin.

Instead of feeling safe for being in his power element, all he felt was an invisible fear. His heart beat faster in its heavy ribcage.

Junmyeon opened his eyes to a sea of flowers. Oddly, they reminded him of the ones in his greenhouse, the ones that would always brought him comfort.

The sloshing waves idly brought the flowers closer to him. Their colors were so obnoxiously bright, completely contrasted to the inked space. His eyes hurt from looking at them.

The water was slowly rising whereas its temperature was rapidly dropping. The icier it turned, the more painful Junmyeon felt. It was as though there were thousands of glacial blades relentlessly stabbing at his body, ripping him apart.

Belatedly, Junmyeon realized, it was not the water that rose, it was him. He was drowning. No. The water. The water was pulling him down.

He tried to move his body upwards to no avail. The water was locking him in place. He was paralyzed.

And the flowers. Their scents had commingled into something so toxic that Junmyeon could not breathe. The sickening odor tasted pungent, clogging up his already heavy lungs.

He wanted to scream for help. Yet as though he was gagged, he could not make a sound. Junmyeon never felt so powerless. Salty tears stung his eyes.

The lurid flowers rapidly slithered up on his body like sinister tentacles, clawing at his limbs, his torso, his neck, his face. Every inch they touched, the piercing pain intensified. They engulfed him. The flowers, they were eating him alive.

Junmyeon was dying. And he couldn’t do anything to save himself. He felt so useless, and powerless.

Everything was black.

 

\---

 

“Junmyeon!”

“Junmyeon hyung!”

“Junmyeon!”

Everything was hazy. As his bleary eyes found their focus, Junmyeon, albeit slowly, started to come to. The tiny blurry dots stopped moving eventually, concentrated into the image of a certain person.

“Ch -  Chanyeol?” His voice cracked slightly at the end. He looked terrified. Junmyeon never saw him like that before.

“Hey, yes. It’s me. I’m here.” Chanyeol breathed out in relief. His hand was cradling Junmyeon’s face, the other holding his nape. Chanyeol’s deep, sonorous voice had always been so soothing. Everything started to hurt less.

Junmyeon didn’t even realize he was crying until Chanyeol gently wiped the tears streaming down his cheeks with his thumb.

“It was just a bad dream. Everything is alright now.” The giant whispered, as though talking to a child, his hand rubbing soothing patterns at Junmyeon’s neck.

Junmyeon just stared at him in a daze. “You just had a bad dream, I woke up to you screaming and honestly, it scared me shitless.” He explained carefully, thumbing softly at Junmyeon’s still wet cheeks. He was so scared.

“But it’s alright now. I’m here. I’ll protect you.” His brown eyes stared straight into Junmyeon’s ones, filled with nothing but assurance. Everything hurt a lot less then.

“I’ll go get you some water, kay?” Junmyeon immediately grasped his t-shirt at the sight of him standing up. Large tears brimmed his round eyes, his small frame started shaking; he was on the verge of panic again.

Chanyeol crouched down in front of him, hands cradling his face, thumbs massaging at his temples. Junmyeon’s breathing regulated back to normal. He sat still. The warmth on him felt so protective.

Chanyeol made a move to reach for the water bottle on the nightstand while still holding Junmyeon’s face in his other hand. Clumsily, he opened and hold it out for Junmyeon.

The petite male gulped it down so fast that Chanyeol had to rub his back in case he choked himself.

A bottle of water later, Chanyeol found Junmyeon in his lap, head snuggling into his neck and hands clutching tightly at his front. Chanyeol wrapped his arms around the petite male, caressing his sides. The fever still hadn’t died down.

Chanyeol rocked the two of them back and forth, humming a random lullaby.

“Do you wanna watch Zootopia?”

It was a little past three in the morning, Chanyeol and Junmyeon were snuggling close on the sofa, watching Chanyeol’s ‘best movie ever.’

Junmyeon fell asleep at the part where Nick and Judy got on the cable car. Chanyeol would get mad and shake him awake to the movie properly at any other time, but this time, he just turned off the movie, carefully laying Junmyeon down onto his lap, pulling the blanket up his neck and then drifted back to sleep, sitting rigidly.

 

\---

 

Junmyeon feels as though his skin was burning.

Taking off his shirt, he stares at his reflection in the mirror. There are colorful lines stretching on the side of his face, his neck. Scars. No, _tattoos_. The more opaque the colors become, the more painful Junmyeon experiences.

The lines pierce through his skin as they ink on it. They hurt like hell. Junmyeon hisses at the touch of them. The pain makes him want to rip off the burning skin with his bare hands.

He slumps to the floor as a headache shoots through his brain. Junmyeon claws at the carpet as he screams his lungs out.

_I need water._

Trying his best to endure the stabbing pain, he pushes himself up. Another excruciating pain shoots through his head, and this time it knocks him out for real.

The blurry reflection of himself is the final thing Junmyeon registers before shutting down.

_Flowers._

 

\---

 

“Aren’t you gonna ask about it?” Junmyeon asked timidly as he stared down at his egg porridge.

They were having breakfast in the kitchen the morning after. And Chanyeol had acted like nothing serious happened the previous night, chatting comfortably with Junmyeon about trivia things at his gallery.

Chanyeol stopped mid-biting his tuna sandwich, he swallowed it down with water, all the while holding his stare at Junmyeon.

“Do you wanna talk about it then?” He asked, tone soft.

Junmyeon hesitated, then shook his head, gaze still firmly placed on his porridge. He hadn’t made any eye contact with Chanyeol ever since he woke up. He didn’t dare to.

“If so, then I won’t ask,” Chanyeol reached for his hand, he tried to pull back but the hold was firm. His hand looked so small in Chanyeol’s big, warm hand, fragile even.

Chanyeol caressed his bony knuckles, “I’ll wait. But please don’t let it be too long, kay? I don’t want to pressure you or make you uncomfortable. But I want you to know that I’m always with you, Junmyeon – ah.”

“I – Th – Thank you…” Junmyeon finally looked at him. His reassuring smile warmed his heart.

 

**Author's Note:**

> There is still another part left that I'm trying my best to work on '^'  
> All comments and kudos are loved <3 And please if you have the time, tell me how you feel about my writing? Thank you so much for reading this!  
> Have a wonderful day ahead!


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